Without Promises (Under the Pier)

by Delancey Stewart

  “A casual engagement,” he said.

  I smiled and bumped his shoulder with my own. “Right.”

  “Okay, but I doubt you’ll be able to handle it.” The lightness had come back into Trent’s voice; the sound of laughter lingered just behind the words, and his self-assured tone of voice had returned.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think,” he said, turning and pulling me onto his lap so that I was facing him and his solid arms were around me, “that being engaged to me will be so fucking awesome you’ll want to actually marry me.”

  “Trent,” I warned. “Very funny.” I could barely manage things now; marriage was an impossibility.

  “Maybe I’m not joking,” he said, his voice dropping low and soft like a promise that wound through my insides and settled there. He dipped his head and pressed his lips to mine then, tightening his arms around me as he buried one hand in my hair.

  The stress of the night unfurled, and I let my body relax in Trent’s arms.

  As he kissed me, I considered everything that had happened, as if from a distance. Nothing about this meshed with my usually practical personality, but there was a tiny thread of excitement running through me at the thought of something so completely outside my comfort zone.

  Trent pulled away and blew out a breath, his shoulders sagging in relief. “You,” he said, smiling at me, “are the coolest girl in the world.”

  Stop smiling, Amy. “I think you have to give me a ring now.” I said, losing track of my own joke as his mouth found the lobe of my ear.

  “I’ll give you anything you want.” His voice was rough and low. “But first, I want to give you a really good apology.” He slid his hand up my leg, caressing the skin as he went, leaving a trail of sizzling heat behind. “Come over?”

  Finally, something I’m not confused about.

  I nodded into his shoulder and didn’t argue when he picked me up and carried me to his car.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Trent

  I felt better as I drove Amy south along Sea World Drive and back down to my place in Ocean Beach. Our conversation may not have fallen anywhere in the realm of standard early relationship chats, but she was still sitting beside me.

  I haven’t lost her yet.

  She was doing more than sitting, actually. Amy’s hand was on my thigh as I drove, and she kept casting quick mischievous glances my way as she moved it, sliding around the inside of my thigh and then moving up higher.

  Holy…

  I was adjusting in my seat, trying to give myself more space as Amy teased. She moved her hand up to my neck, tracing her cool fingers in light circles on the skin beneath my ear and around the back of my neck, raising gooseflesh and turning my erection to steel in my pants.

  “It kills me when you touch me like that.” Her hands were teasing, soft.

  “I’m not trying to kill you,” she whispered. “Just hoping to get to the sex part of that ‘casual-sex’ thing soon.”

  Soon can’t come soon enough.

  I groaned and tried to keep my mind on the road, which was nearly impossible when her fingers began to graze my fly. I pulled down the alley and into the garage beneath my condo, blowing out a relieved breath. I turned in my seat, half joking. “You know, what you’re doing there is very distracting when I’m trying to drive.”

  Amy’s eyes widened, and she dropped her chin in false shame, her adorable face lit by the garage light overhead. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice still a naughty whisper. “But now you’re not driving, so…” She reached for the waistband of my khakis, and I groaned as I caught her wrist.

  “Upstairs.” I hopped out of the car and opened her door, practically chasing her up the stairs to the glass-walled living room.

  She stopped in the middle of the room, the glow from the moon outside lighting her from behind, illuminating her perfect figure, making her hair glow around the edges. “God, you’re beautiful,” I told her, crossing the room to take her in my arms.

  She fits so perfectly. Her body curved into mine, and I bent my head to find her mouth, letting my lips graze hers. A shiver went through her, and it lit me on fire, my nerves standing to attention and my dick turning to iron.

  I want this girl—so much. I pulled her tighter against me and crushed her mouth with mine. I wanted to hold her spark in my hand and study it, I wanted to keep her fire close and nurture it, build it. I wanted her spirit and her mind. And there was no doubt I wanted her body.

  A tiny moan escaped Amy’s throat, and she opened her lips to me, her hands pulling at my shirt. I stepped back and let her pull it off over my head, catching her eye as she gave me a wicked grin.

  “You,” she ordered. “Upstairs.”

  Yes, please.

  I followed orders, stalking up the stairs at the far side of the room and climbing up to the second floor, waiting for Amy at the top.

  “Bedroom,” she whispered, poking a finger into my chest.

  I grabbed her hand and pulled her along with me, using the leverage to bring her to my chest as we stepped into the bedroom. She pressed herself against me, her breasts beneath her shirt firm against my chest, and I kissed her again, hard, and was rewarded with another whimper of pleasure. I let my hands slide down to the hem of her shirt, pulling it up her back in an effort to take it off, but she stepped back, shaking her head and flashing that naughty smile again.

  What is this? A whole new side of Amy. One that feels like it might kill me.

  She held my gaze as she slowly slid her hands down my abdomen until they reached the waistband of my pants, where her fingers danced just below the edge of the fabric, sending waves of chills over my skin. God, I want this girl.

  Slowly, teasingly, Amy unfastened the button of my pants and eased down the zipper, pushing the fabric down my legs until it pooled beneath me on the floor. Then she repeated the entire action with my briefs, leaving me standing in the moonlight completely naked, my cock at full mast as she stepped back to admire her handiwork.

  I toed off my shoes beneath the pile of clothing and stepped out of it, kicking it all aside. I was completely, 100 percent naked, and Amy stood before me in her black pants and fitted blue shirt, heels still intact. “Your turn,” I said, my voice gruff and low with desire.

  She kicked off her shoes and gave me a catty smile, as if to say, “There you go.” And then she pointed to the bed.

  I’d never been naked with Amy on my bed before, though I’d imagined it many times. In those fantasies, however, she was generally naked, too. I lay on my back, and she climbed over me, looking pleased with her ability to control the situation completely. Her hands worked a long trail from the tops of my shoulders down to my waist, and then she scooted down, and her light fingers followed the path along the outside of my thighs, down my shins, and to my feet. She traced the same painfully delicious path back up to my waist, where she detoured. I’d closed my eyes and tilted my chin to the ceiling, struggling for control. The visual alone was enough to make me come. I don’t want to lose it yet. And definitely not like this.

  “You’re killing me,” I ground out. Just as the words escaped my mouth, wetness and warmth enveloped the tip of my cock, and I couldn’t help the strangled groan that flew from my throat. Holy hell, she has her mouth on me. Her hands were moving along the sides of my legs, up my inner thighs, and grazing my balls—but it was that mouth, so hot and wet around me… She was teasing me with her tongue, flattening it, and then swirling it around, and just when I thought I couldn’t take it, she wrapped her hands around my length. Oh my God.

  “Shit, Amy. I’m not gonna last…” I had fistfuls of the comforter in my hands, and it was taking everything I had in me to keep my legs still, to keep from reversing this entire situation and burying myself inside her.

  She was working my dick now, her mouth and hand moving in concert, spreading slick wetness along my length and sucking at the end of each stroke. Her other hand cupped my balls, and there was so muc
h sensation I didn’t know where to focus. I knew only that I was going to explode.

  I gave in to sensation, finally releasing as Amy gripped me with those perfect gorgeous lips. When I had control of my limbs again, I pulled her up and into my arms, pushing her hair away from her beautiful face.

  “That was…epic,” I said. Great, I sound drunk. And maybe I was, drunk on adrenaline from the insanity of the night, drunk on the confusing feelings I had for Amy and on the ridiculous way she controlled my body.

  “Good,” she said, snuggling up against me as I wrapped her in my arms.

  “Stay,” I suggested, flipping her onto her back and working my hands up her sides to remove the shirt she’d managed to keep on this whole time.

  “I should go,” she argued, her voice dreamy.

  “Stay,” I said again, unfastening her pants and pulling them gently down her legs to expose so much gorgeous silky flesh I knew I’d need to commit an entire night to worshipping it properly. Better get started.

  “Maybe for a bit,” she said, her breath hitching as I slid my hands up the insides of her thighs. “Maybe just a few—” Amy stopped speaking when my tongue found its mark.

  And she did stay. After she came.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Amy

  I spent the night at Trent’s, which was not a normal occurrence, but he was so sleepy and sweet after everything that I couldn’t resist just sliding into bed beside him and going to sleep in the circle of his arms. We were both emotionally spent after the dinner at his parents’ house—getting engaged will do that to you, I guess. We were spent in other ways, too. Trent made sure to even the sexual score later that night, and while we still hadn’t actually had intercourse, I had no complaints as I awoke, my limbs languid and light as I stretched out at his side.

  The light of day didn’t add any rationality to everything we’d agreed upon the night before, but I was settling around the idea. I had known Trent wasn’t perfect—who is, after all?—but witnessing his reaction to getting pressed by his family was a relief in some strange way.

  Lord knew, I had my dark corners, and now I knew Trent had his, too. Maybe his were just a little bit less cobwebby and terrifying than mine. He couldn’t stand up to his parents. I got that. He didn’t like the way they controlled every part of his life. I totally got that, too. And this? Telling them we were engaged? Maybe it was some screwed-up combination of his actual feelings for me and his attempt to finally take a stand with his family.

  It was a mess, no doubt. But it made sense, and I could live with it. In a sick way, it was kind of helpful. I did best when I could see a clear path, an obvious beginning and end to things, and firm footholds along the way. Relationships don’t usually work that way. But knowing that there was an end to this tunnel, that we had one month to enjoy each other, was strangely comforting. I guess because I was just that fucked up.

  “Yes, that’s completely fucked up,” Dani said when I went home the next morning to change. Trent and I were getting together—he had someplace he wanted to take me and Elyse, and I had to be ready at one thirty. It gave me just enough time to tell Dani about everything that had happened the night before.

  “I know it is.” It was the same thing Amber had told me when I’d texted her just a few minutes before.

  “You think you’re so advanced, that you understand yourself so well you can just accept this and be fine with it, but…” She blew out a breath, making her hair fly up on her forehead. She shook her head and flopped down on my bed, watching me get dressed.

  “What does one wear for an outing with one’s fake fiancée and his sullen teenaged sister?” I asked her, trying to change the subject. “When one has no clue where one is going?”

  “Why is one talking about oneself in the third person and acting like it’s totally acceptable that one’s casual fuck buddy just forced her into pretending to be his fiancée?”

  I pulled on the denim capri pants I was holding and turned to face my sister. “First of all, there was no forcing involved. He was all gung ho to go back and come clean, and I stopped him. Secondly, I know it seems crazy. But I don’t work like everyone else, Dani. For me…having an out is helpful.”

  “An out?” She sat up looking completely traumatized. “It’s not even a proper relationship. You’re not even really ‘in,’ so why do you need an out?”

  I tried to explain. “It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. I’m having fun for a while, and Trent is proving he can run his own life, since his family still treats him like he’s in high school. And once this is done, I check the box and move on to medical school. Goal accomplished. I’m goal oriented. This gives me a goal.”

  “What’s your goal?” she said, lifting her hands and shaking her head slowly.

  I lifted a shoulder and turned to pull a white tank top from the dresser. “Have fun. Amber made me realize I never do anything just because it’s fun. Just because it feels good. Maybe I need that.”

  She nodded, “I guess I understand that. But, Amy?”

  I stopped moving and turned to face her. “Yeah?”

  “Are you sure this isn’t something more? You’ve seemed…different since you’ve been seeing Trent. Happy. Lighter.” Her words came out slowly, like she thought they might make me angry.

  “I am happy. We’re having fun.”

  “What if you ruin a chance for something real? Something lasting? What if pretending you’re engaged ruins any chance you guys had of getting engaged for real. Later?”

  I lifted a shoulder. “Don’t worry so much. It’s just fun.”

  “And that’s all it is.” It was a statement, but she made it a question.

  “That’s all it is. Plus, pretending to be engaged could be kind of fun,” I said. “Could make for some exciting role play…”

  Dani wrinkled her nose. “If that’s your kink, I guess.”

  “You don’t need to get all worked up about this, Dani. Honestly, it’s the least of my concerns at the moment.”

  “What?” That didn’t help Dani become less worked up. “What else is going on?” Now she was sitting ramrod straight on the edge of my bed, ready to spring into action to fix everything for me. Even though she couldn’t.

  How can I tell her this?

  I’d had an idea about how I might finance medical school without starting my next career completely broke. She wouldn’t like it. “I’m worried about money, Dani. I’ve got four years of med school to finance, and it’s not going to be cheap.”

  “Right,” she said, looking calmer. “So you take out loans. Isn’t that what people do?”

  Most people, yeah. “I could. The house is good collateral.”

  Dani nodded, satisfied.

  “The house is great collateral, actually. Because we own it outright.” Our grandmother, Nan, had paid it off before she died. “Do you know what this place is worth, Dani?” I really wasn’t sure about going down this road, but the conversation needed to happen eventually.

  She shrugged, looking around, as if the number might be etched into the walls somewhere in my room. “A couple hundred thousand, I’m sure. It’s small, though.”

  “It’s also adjacent to downtown San Diego,” I reminded her. “The house next door? Guess what it sold for last year.”

  “I don’t want to guess.” Dani ran her hands over her face, probably sensing she wasn’t going to like where I was going with this.

  “Seven hundred thousand dollars, Dani.” I let that sink in.

  She shrugged, but then her shoulders stiffened again, and her eyes latched on to mine, widening in horror. “Wait, you’re…you want to…” She shook her head angrily. “We are not selling Nan’s house!”

  She was right to be shocked. I knew she was. But it felt like we were sitting on a pile of money while I looked around for pennies. “I know. You’re right.” I pulled on a cardigan and picked up my purse, walking toward the kitchen. Trent was going to be here any minute to pick me up.

 
; “You can’t just walk away after you say something like that,” Dani called to me from where she still sat on the edge of my bed. “You just dropped a bomb.”

  “I didn’t actually say I wanted to sell the house,” I pointed out.

  “But you do.”

  “I don’t, actually. I just thought of it and wanted to see what you thought.”

  “But it’s Nan’s house.” She stepped into the kitchen with me.

  “Nan’s gone,” I reminded her, my heart squeezing as I forced myself to keep my voice flat. “We don’t have to sell it right now, but realistically, it’s an asset we share. Are we going to live here together—you and me—into our old age?”

  Dani looked stricken. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out, and she closed it again, squeezing her eyes shut and then jumping when a knock came at the door.

  “I have to go,” I told her. “We’ll talk about this later. Just think about it. Not right now. Just…one day.”

  “But—”

  I gave her a quick hug and went to answer the door. “I love you,” I told her, feeling pretty sure that she doubted it completely in that moment.

  …

  We had to go pick up Elyse, and driving back up the long curving driveway to Trent’s parents’ house was like going back to the scene of a crime. Trent pulled up in front of the house and turned to look at me. “We’ll just go get Elyse, and we’ll be off,” he said.

  I nodded. I’m not going in. I’m not going to face her again.

  Trent smiled at me and must’ve seen the trepidation on my face. He took my hand. “Don’t worry, Mom’s having lunch at the club. It’s her standing lunch with all the other country-club wives.”

  Okay then.

  “Elyse?” He called from the foyer, and a second later, we could hear hurried footsteps coming from the hallway to our left.

  “Trent, Amy, how lovely to see you again.” Trent’s mother appeared, and I tightened my grip on Trent’s hand.

  Crap. Shields up.